New Beginnings
by n2aabmmummy
Summary: Futurefic, set at the end of senior year, Quinn gets to know Jesse, and must decide whether she'd like their budding friendship to develop in to something more. Multichapter
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee…wish I did :-p

**New Beginnings**

Quinn smiled as she stood at the edge of the water. She was now in her senior year and things have been good so far. Yesterday, with her at the helm of the team, the Cheerios once again won the Nationals, this year held in Los Angeles, California. Her GPA puts her in the top 5% of her graduating class, ensuring that she'd have her pick of schools to further her studies. At the moment, she was toying between Yale and Harvard. She didn't think that she'd want to go to a school where non academic activities such as cheer would take up most of her time. She was also in a wonderful, committed relationship for the last year and half with Sam Evans, the starting quarterback for the WMHS football team. At that thought, her smile slipped a little. She loved Sam and she knew he loved her but she had temporarily forgotten that for the last three months, they had been separated by an ocean. Sam's family had relocated to Australia. Though Sam resisted the move, there really wasn't much he could do about it; his father was being posted there to handle the Austrasia division of the multi national company he was attached to. Daily Skype chats, though wonderful, just wasn't the same…though Quinn still loved him with all her heart, she was gearing herself to letting him go. If she were honest, or more pragmatic, even if Sam were still in the States, the likelihood that they'd go to different university's was highly probable. Sam would definitely get a football scholarship but his academic results, though acceptable were nowhere near Quinn's, due to his dyslexia. Quinn purposely put away that thought from her mind…soon enough she'd have to dwell on those sad emotions.

Now, standing here today, it was time for her to feel at peace and dwell in the sense of accomplishment. Thanks to the win, Coach Sylvester had announced a mini holiday of three days for the Cheerios in LA starting immediately. While Santana, Brittany and a few others had opted to make a day trip to Disneyworld; and Kurt was going on an all out shopping spree, and the rest had opted for sightseeing in LA itself, Quinn had decided a day by the beach on her own is what she wanted. She was familiar with LA, thanks to her family's vacations there and knew that what she loved the most about LA was the beach. Standing at the sea front, she was reminded of the first ever time she and Sam had sung together, the Jason Mraz song "Lucky". If she was truly lucky, they too would end up together again as the song lyrics indicated.

"Oh wow" Jesse St James heard his friend, Josh exclaim. He slowed down his pace and turned to look at his friend. "What's up Josh?"

"Look at that vision by the beach"

Jesse turned to the direction Josh was looking and felt his heart skip a beat. He saw a slim girl with a sexy body and beautiful blond hair, clad in white shorts and in the process of extracting herself from her red and white WMHS hoodie. She was using a super sexy red bikini top. Jesse knew very well that if he could see the girl's face, he'd see flawless features, a perfectly oval face framed by a pair of enchanting hazel eyes, an aristocratic nose and lips naturally pink and shaped in a rosebud.

"She must be Helen...Helen who launched a thousand ships," enthused Josh, who was a sucker for romance exclaimed

"Quinn. She's Quinn Fabray," Jesse said in wonderment and he felts his feet moving on its own volition towards her.

"Hey!" said Josh "I saw her first"

"I knew her first" chuckled Jesse "See you later, Josh" and with that he left his indignant housemate behind.

Jesse had always felt attracted to Quinn. Even during her pregnancy and during his Rachel/ Vocal Adrenalin debacle, he'd always been curious about her. But his loyalties towards Shelby and in a way, Rachel, had stilled his impulse to get to know Quinn. As he made his way towards Quinn, who was still facing the sea, he wondered whether she still harboured resentment towards him for betraying New Directions. He desperately hoped not.

The sound of the waves dashing to shore effectively masked his approach. Jesse was able to admire Quinn's beauty without her noticing. "Quinn's definitely looking hotter than ever" Jesse thought.

"Quinn..." Jesse said when he stood by her and she swirled around, caught by surprise.

'Jesse? What are you doing here?"

"I think I should be the one asking you that question, Quinn. I'm at UCLA, but what is a small town girl from Lima, Ohio doing here during the school term?" Jesse teased her

Quinn felt her shackles draw up, "And what business is it of yours what I do or where I do it, Jesse St James?"

"I'm sorry Quinn," Jesse said placatingly "I'm just surprised and happy to see you'. "Friends?"

'Friends? Were we ever friends, Jesse? All I remember is you betraying us" Quinn said sarcastically

Jesse St James could be a diva when he wanted, but today, he decided that an apology was in deed necessary and he had more to gain from getting Quinn to like him.

"Shelby told you why I did what I did, didn't she, Quinn?" Jesse knew that Quinn still kept in touch with Shelby because of Beth "It wasn't done the right way but it was done with the best of intentions. I'm only human and I was a kid then, I made mistakes. Can you give me another chance, a new beginning?" he said and extended his hand towards her.

Quinn looked down at his hand and for a moment, Jesse though she was going to ignore it.

"Friends…God knows, I too have made my share of stupid mistakes, "Quinn said wryly and she placed her hand in to his extended hand.

Jesse felt himself shiver with desire? Anticipation? Goosebumps were starting to form on his arms He wondered what this meant and whether Quinn felt the same.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: **

Jesse checked his reflection in the rearview mirror before getting out of his car. He was strangely nervous tonight. This was all wrong, Jesse St James was never nervous. Jesse always prided himself for being calm even during the grandest of performances. He'd normally let himself get into the "zone" prior to any show. He'd tried his usual calming and breathing techniques, but nothing was working. The butterflies in his stomach were in fact beginning to be rather distracting. When he finally steeled himself to get out of the car, he noticed the beautiful girl leaning against the doorframe of the main entrance of the house, an eyebrow angled in question, a smile forming on her lips

"God, she's more beautiful than the last time I saw her, I didn't realize I missed her so much"Jesse muttered to himself, as he walked towards Quinn Fabray. His cheeks were slightly warm from embarrassment at being caught steeling himself to walk to her front door. All smart comebacks and quips promptly disappeared as he stood face to face with her. All he could do was lean in and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. Quinn's arms around his neck felt like a homecoming. Quinn pulled away. and immediately Jesse felt the loss.

"I see you've missed me, "Quinn said, dimpling as she gave him a big smile,"I've missed you too" she added softly. In the recesses of her mind, Quinn had wondered over and over again the wisdom of having this relationship with Jesse. From the moment they'd met in Los Angeles, there was a connection between the two of them. It was as if they were two sides of a whole, and as corny as it sounded, they completed each other. Jesse and her were practically inseparable during the three days the Cheerios were in Los Angeles.

Going back to Lima after that was unbearable. It wasn't leaving the bright lights of the city that made her sad, it was leaving her soul mate that wretched her heart. She had never felt this way with the other boys in her life. Though she had loved, in fact still loved Sam, the distance and months of separation were making her feelings hazy. In any case, her feelings for Sam were totally different from what she was now feeling for Jesse.

Sam was comfortable and dependable and caring, Sam was who she needed to be with after Baby gate. Sam helped her gain her self worth and for that, Quinn knew she would always be grateful to him and would always love him.

With Jesse, everything was different, everything was electrifying and exciting. She felt a buzz when she touched him, corny though it may sound and she sometimes actually looked to see whether her fingers were shooting sparks. Once she was back in Lima, Quinn was rather surprised that Jesse would make the effort to continue their budding relationship. He'd constantly IM her, make Skype calls and what she treasured most were the handwritten letters from him. Jesse wrote extremely well and she felt like she was there by his side just by reading his letters. Quinn was glad for the old fashioned letters as she was able to hold them to her heart after reading them.

What Quinn didn't know was why she had yet to tell anyone about her relationship with Jesse? She did think of telling Mercedes and Kurt, once the Cheerios came back from LA but somehow, in the end, she just felt like hugging the memories all to herself. There was also the doubt about the relationship going the distance as Quinn knew that Jesse St James was a rising star and therefore considered a hot catch by the girls on campus. Quinn was very aware of her own attractions but she had wanted to safeguard her heart. If the time with Puck had taught her anything, it was to shield her self from heartache.

Looking back, Quinn reflected that it was utter madness what she'd felt for Jesse in LA. Total and absolute madness. She'd always scoffed at the romances that said that you could fall in love in an instant. Because now she knew it was absolutely untrue: it happens much quicker than that. And now that Jesse was back in Lima for the winter break, Quinn wasn't quite so sure how to break the news to her best friends, what more the rest of the New Directions. But she knew that wherever this relationship was heading, she definitely wanted to give it a try.

Jesse felt amazed at this sense of homecoming when he was with Quinn. He'd been in numerous relationships including the ill fated Rachel/ Shelby debacle but no one had touched his heart the way Quinn has. He knew they had an instant physical connection but he now knew for sure that he was in love with Quinn, and he wanted to broach the topic of her furthering her studies at UCLA to be with him.

He knew that Quinn was in a relationship with Sam for two years and in a way, that relationship had yet to be sorted out properly. Sam and Quinn had never ended their relationship but the miles in between is what had enforced Quinn and Sam's separation. Jesse was quite confident that Quinn, too was in love with him but he'd wondered whether she had officially ended things with Sam. After the Rachel fiasco, Jesse was not keen to be in another relationship mess.

As they were about to walk to his car, an airport taxi pulled up by the curb and stopped. "Expecting anybody?" Jesse asked Quinn, who replied in the negative.

The taxi's door opened to reveal a blond shock of hair, followed by a muscular male body. Quinn gasped when she saw who it was, "Sam!" Jesse tensed beside her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: Glee's not mine but I adore it to bits!**

**A.N: Initially, this chapter was supposed to turn out differently but because I watched FURT over and over and over again and fell in love, this is what happened **

**A big shoutout and thank you to Sanna, addisonkarev and so NOT a dumb blonde for being such great reviewers. You all really made my day**

Alex Newton stood outside the sprawling suburban mansion in Dallas and double checked the address. He took a few pictures, walked back to his car and drove in to the compound of the house, thinking that the people here must be rather laidback to just leave their gates open. Things like this would never happen in New York. He was rethinking his approach, as obviously, money would not be a consideration here. Barely a minute after he rang the doorbell, it was opened to reveal a gorgeous blonde dressed simply in a short white linen sundress. Alex figured that this must be the daughter, but he didn't remember there being mention of a daughter in any of the reports, as she looked too young to be 38 years old.

"Hi, could I please speak to Ms Quinn Fabray?"

"It's Mrs. Evans now. It's been many years since I've been Ms Fabray, "the blonde said with a smile" How can I help you?"

"I'm Alex Newton from the New York Times. I was wondering if it'd be all right for me to ask you a few questions?"

"About my husband?" Quinn asked, in confusion

For a while Alex was equally befuddled, "Your husband? Ohh…Sam Evans of the Dallas Cowboys. No…no? It's about Jesse St James."

"I haven't seen or spoken to Jesse in the last 20 years. I last saw him in person when I was 18." Quinn had a sad smile on her face

"That's just it. Jesse's just had an autobiography published. Have you read it?" He saw Quinn give a small head shake in the negative." I'd like to show you something and would like to hear your opinion of it."

Alex opened the book to the page he has earlier marked and showed the paragraph to Quinn: _Of all the relationships I've ever had, and well…there were many. Some ended well, some ended, to say badly, would be a mild way to put it and yet, only one till today, I regret its end. I wish I had persevered then. If I could go back, I'd scream, shout, plead, beg, cry, grovel, cajole and ask her to choose me. But I was 19, so…so stupid and arrogant and impatient, so I lost her. I don't know whether if we'd actually got together, I'd write the songs which have made me famous…all the songs I've ever written are in one way or another because of her, but I sure as hell know, I'd be a lot happier. And that's also why all my albums are dedicated to QF, they're her initials. I sometimes wonder how she's doing and whether she's ever listened to my songs, and know that I've written them all for her. _

Quinn was dumbfounded. She was truly baffled. She'd assumed, based on the nuggets she's gleamed in the gossip rags when she was at the hair salon, Jesse was living the high life, achieving all and more of what he's always dreamed about. He was always pictured with beautiful girls hanging on his arm. She'd purposely avoided buying his albums or watching his movies or Broadway performances as she didn't want to be reminded of him, so she never knew what his songs were about or even that he'd made a dedication to her.

She remembered the day that led to the end of their relationship so clearly. She was happy with her choice, she'd made a good life but she'd be lying if she didn't admit to a twinge of curiosity, maybe even a slight regret, of what might have been. It was a choice between the tried and true and an exciting but enigmatic future.

* * *

As soon as Sam got out of the cab, he'd had a huge goofy grin plastered on his face, the kind of smile only Sam Evans can have. It made her heart skip a beat…she hadn't realized she'd missed him so much. He did a mini jog towards her and like a cliché; she's ran towards him, meeting him halfway. He enveloped her in a hug and swung her around, while she actually squeled...yup, squealed with happiness. She knew then that Sam would always be able to make her happy…he's proven it time and time again. At the same moment, she saw Jesse's face as he stood rooted to the spot. There was a flicker of some emotion she couldn't define, and then he curled his lips in derision and walked straight to his car. Quinn felt herself torn in two, but before she could decide what to do, Jesse'd left When Jesse left, Quinn felt her heart break. She felt at a lost to understand her feelings. Here she was feeling extremely happy to see Sam and yet, her heart was breaking.

Just then, for the second time since she'd known him, Sam got down on his knee, and brought out another ring. She realized something else, that she'd never ever taken off the promise ring he gave her two years ago.

"Quinn, two years ago, I got down on my knees and told you that I want to marry you, someday…but until then, I gave you a ring that symbolized my promise to you to be true. Now, that day has arrived, and I give you a new ring, a fulfillment of my promise, to be all I can be for you, to love you for the rest of my days and to always, always make you proud. "

"Quinn Fabray, will you do me the honour of being my wife?" Sam said softly and what else could the answer be but yes.

Sam had literally worked his back off while in Australia to buy Quinn the engagement ring, he'd also got a full football scholarship to Harvard, the same university Quinn had applied for and been accepted to. And, he'd made the necessary enquiries and arrangements for marital housing. Quinn was actually quite impressed with his resourcefulness. He'd even got the necessary marriage license, as he trusted his luck that Quinn would accept his proposal. Everything seemed to steamroll after that…but, in a good way. Quinn would have been extremely happy with all that was happening…if it wasn't because of Jesse.

That night, after the mini celebration with Kurt, Mercedes, her mum and of course, Sam, she'd driven to Jesse's house and waited outside. She'd called him and asked him to meet her.

'So, you came here to tell me the good news?" Jesse said cuttingly

"Jesse…"Quinn pleaded, "Please..." She didn't know what else to say

Jesse just glared at her and suddenly, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her…he put all his emotions, his love and his frustrations in to the kiss, which left Quinn breathless. And just as suddenly, he turned on his heel and walked back in to his house. Quinn touched her tingling lips and felt the tears fall silently down her cheeks. As she walked to her car, she knew that this was now a closed door, a closed chapter in her life.

* * *

Quinn lived a charmed life with Sam. They were happy. Happier than Quinn ever expected to be. After Harvard, Sam played football professionally for the Dallas Cowboys and as they were expecting their first child, Quinn opted to be a stay at home mum…she used to joke with her friends that she'd ended becoming a Stepford Wife. Three years later they got their second boy, and he completed their family.

Quinn was satisfied with her life. Sam, her husband Sam never disappointed her. He was the best husband and father anybody could wish for. He wasn't a Puck or a Russell Fabray. Sam made her feel safe and loved. Subconsciously, perhaps that was the reason why she chose Sam as Jesse would have been a risk. He was tempestuous and impulsive, a risk she just wasn't willing to take.

This year would have marked her 20th year of marriage with Sam. The benefit of marrying young was yet even after so many years of marriage, she was just 38. The same age Sam would have been if he hadn't suddenly collapsed two years ago and died due to cerebral edema. The pathologist said that this could have been caused due to an old injury sustained during his top flight football career. Quinn and her boys were financially secure as Sam had ensured that the boys had their trust funds and his investments had easily doubled his income. Though it could be said that she was worry free, Quinn was lonely as Sam was the light of her life, the one who brought the laughter and sunshine in to the house. Well meaning friends had tried to introduce her to other men but Quinn felt she just wasn't ready. Quinn didn't even feel like socializing much except with her old friends, namely Mercedes and Kurt, who had been with her through the good times and the worst of times.

Her sons laughing shouts brought her out of her reverie. "I'm sorry Mr. Newton," Quinn said, "I don't think there's anything for me to comment. As Jesse wrote, this is all in the past"

Alex looked at the beautiful woman standing in front of him and an idea for an exclusive clicked in his head. "Its all right Mrs. Evans, I'm sorry to have bothered you."

* * *

"Jesse…there's this reporter that says he's got a scoop for you," said Simon Winslow, Jesse St James's personal assistant

"Don't you find that odd Simon? A reporter having a scoop FOR me and not OF me? "was Jesse's sarcastic answer.

Jesse was bored. After 20 years at the top of his game, he was feeling burned out. Nothing excited him anymore: not new songs, TV deals, Broadway shows or even the most beautiful women. He needed something new but he didn't know what. He'd yet to find it." Well, bring him in then. Maybe he'll surprise me"

Jesse stood outside of the house feeling nervous. It had been so long, he wondered if she still had any feelings for him. He wondered whether the feelings he felt he still had for her were just a figment of his over active imagination. At first he'd dismissed the reporter's suggestion for him to reunite with Quinn. But each and every day, the need to see her again became stronger. He knew he could have looked for Quinn years ago but he was afraid of how he'd react if he found her, and he was still honorable enough to not want to wreck a happy marriage. Now that he'd made the decision to reconnect with her, his people had prepared a file on Quinn. Jesse wouldn't be Jesse if he wasn't prepared.

The door opened, and he heard a sharp intake of breath from the woman who was…and still is, the love of his life. Quinn. He couldn't say anything, he did the same thing he did the last time he saw her. Jesse stepped forward and gathered Quinn into his arms and kissed her, putting all his love in to it. As he felt her responding, his lips curved into a smile and felt that this was a start to the rest of his life, a new beginning with Quinn.


End file.
